http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/thooper/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from thooper en-us Fri, 25 Dec 2009 02:02:19 +0000 Fri, 25 Dec 2009 02:02:19 +0000 We circled above the gorgeous island of Mauritius before landing occasionally spotting beautiful stretches of white sand belonging to innumerable 5 star resorts. Most people associate the island with honeymoons and expensive family holidays but we were there for much more important and special occasions. Luciersquos brother Jonathan lives on the island with his wife and newly born baby girl Jor http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Mauritius/Port-Louis/blog-395351.html Leaving Banana VillageWe had no appointments to make on Wednesday morning and so after checking out of Banana Village and a very leisurely breakfast we set off down the Entebbe road towards Kampala. The Ugandan people were all very busy going about their daily lives which provided some great scenery on our journey. The people are sop enterprising it seems all of them are trying to make a living http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/Eastern-Region/Jinja/blog-393652.html Friday 20th MarchWe arrived at Banana Village where we had planned to meet the CRU dental team at around 4pm after our 32 hours bus journey across what seemed like the whole of Africa but in actual fact was only three countries We looked a little dishevelled and slightly dirty to say the least and had hoped that we could have a shower before meeting everyone. Sadly Barbara caught us sneaking to o http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/Central-Region/Entebbe/blog-392669.html Monday morning Luc and I caught a bus from Moshi to Dar Es Salaam. It left around six o'clock in the morning and didn't arrive in Dar until around 2pm. Eight hours on the bus across one of Africa's bigger countries was not too comfortable but not one of the worst journeys I have been on during my time in Africa. Luc found it very hard despite the fact she was asleep for the majority of it.Upon ar http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/Zanzibar/Nungwi/blog-390416.html Kilimanjaro Machame Route Day 4 Friday 6th March I woke up on the morning of day 4 after a very good nightrsquos sleep much to my relief after the freezing cold night I had at Shira Caves. We were up early and the sky was very clear. We had a beautiful sight of the summit once again and so we took the opportunity to take our team photo all seven of us I had with me my guide Felex four http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Mount-Kilimanjaro/blog-387881.html Kilimanjaro Machame Route Day 1 Tuesday 3rd MarchBreakfast was served from 6am so I was up and about around half five. The power had still not come on from the night before and so the head torch was out to do the final packing of my daypack. The majority of the morning was spent running around like a headless chicken trying to organise the rental gear and settle my bill form the plate of chi http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Mount-Kilimanjaro/blog-386814.html So after leaving the Kwitonda group in Rwanda I took a bus from Kigali to Kampala across the border. The bus left the Nyabugogo bus station at 5.45am and I was told that I needed to be there for about 3.30am as it gets full very quickly I was the first at the booking office which did not open until 5.00am. It was lucky I was the first through the door as I got the last ticket on the bus. Lucky http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/blog-386810.html 24th February On Tuesday morning I started my journey in anticipation of going gorilla trekking the next day. Colin dropped me off in Kabale in the morning so that I could walk to the petrol station where the taxis departed to the border. I say taxis but in reality they are actually men who own cars and charge a couple of pounds to take people to the border of Rwanda So I load my bags into the bo http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Rwanda/Province-du-Nord/Parc-National-des-Volcans/blog-376793.html Lucie and Lobb It was very sad leaving South Africa. We had had such an amazing time and both felt that given the chance we would have definitely doubled the length of our stay but we had other places to go and very very different cultures to experience.Paul who is in charge of all the schools Luc is working at Aleisha who is an American volunteer and a driver greeted us off the plane. The s http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-376754.html Friday 8th FebruarySorry this post if at least 5 days late. Internet in the Transkei was appalling and nowhere has Microsoft word or USB ports so have had to wait till nowWe arrived in Jefferyrsquos bay at Island Vibe around 8pm. The bar was already full and we had missed supper so it was a bowl of cereal for that night The Brazilian guys and Kirsten from Norway were staying at Island Vibe as http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Eastern-Cape/Jeffreys-Bay/blog-373289.html Our first stop from Cape Town was Plettenberg Bay. We hopped on the Baz Bus which is a backpackerrsquos bus that you can hopon and hopoff all the way along the coast right up through Swaziland and up to Johannesburg. Our first journey to ldquoPlettrdquo started at 8am and was going to take around ten hours. We were dreading it the night before but in next to no time we were over half way http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Plettenberg-Bay/blog-371651.html For the last few nights we have been staying in backpackers hostels. The first on we turned up at was Long Street backpackers. We arrived on the friday afternoon after a long day at the beach to a very busy long street and no where to park We buzzed the door and were greeted by the woman who was also the bar maid for the night It was all pretty manic to be honest. It was what I expected from a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-369602.html Sorry itrsquos been a while since Irsquove last written. Had some problems with the Internet this is Africa after all but all is ok nowhellipWe left Somerset West on the Saturday morning and drove up the coast road past Bettyrsquos Baai and other places and after about 90 minutes arrived in Hermanus the famous whale watching town. We stopped for lunch and had a look round the markets fo http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/blog-368055.html 21st January We woke up early today as our plan was to climb Helderberg the close by mountain albeit a small mountain and wanted to do it early before it was hot. The weather was forecast to be cloudy and so we thought it would be a good time to do it but even at 7.00am it was obvious that it was another blisteringly hot day and so we went back to bed for a couple of hoursAround 10 orsquocl http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-366080.html Thursday 22nd R25 for entry and R5 for a route map and we were all set to begin the long slog up the Helderberg Mountain We spoke to the woman at the information desk and asked how long it takes to summit the mountain ldquo6 hoursrdquo came her reply which took us both by surprise as other people had said it only took them 2 hours to get to the top. Not only this but she also told us that t http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Somerset-West/blog-366083.html First couple of days in South Africa... Well me and Lucie arrived at Cape Town int airport just before 9am after a long and restless flight for me and my legs The car hire company we used had failed to realise that we'd be on an international flight and so were waiting to pick us up at domestics After about 30 minutes of waiting we were finally greeted by Cecil the driver and taken to our car http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Somerset-West/blog-364734.html